In general, a door for a vehicle is opened and closed by engaging a striker fixed onto a vehicle body side with a latch disposed in a locking device on the door side. The latch is prevented from being rotated by engaging it with a pawl pivotally supported and biased in a direction in which the pawl is engaged with the latch.
As shown in FIG. 1, in such a conventional pawl structure, the pawl is integrally formed by cutting work with a base shaft 10, a link connecting portion 11, a claw portion 12, and a bearing portion 13. Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 58-11277 discloses another pawl structure in which a raw material punch-molded from a metallic flat panel is formed by pressing work in the respective shapes of the base shaft, the link connecting portion, the claw portion, etc.
However, in the pawl structure shown in FIG. 1, it is necessary to perform machining works in some processes, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost. Further, it is difficult to make the pawl structure compact by the requirements of the mechanical strength and durability. Further, since the entire structure is integrally formed by a metallic material, the weight of the structure cannot be reduced and is limited, and a high hitting sound peculiar to the metal is generated when the pawl contacts the latch.
In the pawl structrue in which a material after punching is molded by pressing work, it is necessary to perform the pressing work at some stages, and further to prepare various kinds of dies for pressing the material to form the respective shapes of the base shaft, the link connecting portion, the claw portion, etc., thereby increasing the manufacturing cost. Further, similar to the structure mentioned above, the structure is integrally made of a metallic material so that a hitting sound is generated when the pawl contacts the latch.